Freelance Writing Jobs for Beginners: Breaking into the Industry

Freelance writing can be extremely rewarding, but it can also be challenging, especially if you are a beginner or trying to make writing your full-time career and you want to do so from home. Fortunately, this isn’t an impossible goal and when you know how to start, you can make money doing what you love.

Irrespective of the type of writing you want to pursue, there are some basic tools you should possess as a writer. Great language structure and spelling are fundamental, and correct grammar is imperative for communicating your ideas smoothly. With those skills down pat, independent writing offers you plenty of opportunities for flexibility when it comes to practicing different styles.

Every blogger and site manager needs online substance, from item descriptions to blog entries to research articles and eBooks. There are endless options when you want to become a freelance writer.

Just remember your audience and tone; blog entries have a tendency to be more conversational, while a review article may require a considerable amount of examination and direction.

If you’re new to the online freelance writing market, you may be wondering where you can find writing jobs. The Internet has many places where new freelancers can begin to establish writing samples and earn income. Think about the type of writing you’d most like to pursue and learn about what the different styles entail. Build up a portfolio that showcases your ability to write with different tones. Then, begin your search.

Blogging

One easily accessible type of online writing is creating content for blogs. Blogs offer an awesome open door for aspiring journalists to secure notoriety and to show other employers that you’ve become a published author. On the Internet, where quality writing is valued above all else, sites are continually searching for authors to give crisp new experiences about subjects to keep their audience’s attention rapt and gain site hits.

Whether you like looking into a subject and explaining the basics to others, writing about themed current events, or explaining how readers can engage in creative projects, you can find sites that need fresh ideas. It’s a common piece of advice to “write what you know,” so start contacting blogs that post about subjects you like or news sites that cover important topics to you and send in writing samples.

Visitor blogging is another lucrative approach to get your work out there and fabricate a name for yourself as an essayist. Once you’ve been posting on blogs for several months, you can approach sites to start blogging once a week or so as a guest blogger with a unique perspective. Mainstream bloggers can procure a lot of money, and all bloggers begin by starting down the same path: by writing entries. If you are interested to learn more about earning through blogging, you can check out my number #1 recommendation that teaches you how to do that.

Technical Writing

An alternate method for businesses to outsource content involves specialized written work. Specialized written work generally involves instructional writing that helps users of products or services learn how to operate things. This type of writing includes manuals, quick-start guides, specialized instruction books, client guides, and other varieties of technical writing dictated by the company you write for.

This kind of writing requires you to have the ability to plainly and succinctly give directions or outline data in a way that everyone can understand. Technical writing is a relatively lucrative way to earn a living; most products people buy come with instruction manuals, so your work has the potential to appear everywhere. If you fancy yourself mechanically minded and write logically, think about attempting some technical writing.

Keep in mind that companies that need this type of text often have their own special writing conventions and style guides, and you may need to familiarize yourself with industry-specific terms to ensure you’re properly addressing every topic. If your ultimate goal is to work from home doing technical writing, one great place to start is with online programming and gaming organizations. They are continually searching for essayists to compose client manuals.

Product Descriptions

Flipping through catalogs and reading about cool new things to shop for is a nice way to spend an afternoon, but have you ever wondered who actually gets to write those little paragraphs beside each product?

Freelance copywriters are often hired to craft these interesting descriptions, which is a shift from the old way of companies having in-house copywriting teams. These days, you can telecommute with these jobs and submit your descriptions to your employer directly.

If you’re searching for work in independent copywriting, writing descriptions for a small online company is a great way to get some experience and get your foot in the door. A lot of the time, these gigs aren’t available to new freelancers, especially when it’s a bigger company needing the writing. You’ll be rivaling experienced experts for any sort of copywriting work for larger sites, so it’s best to start out small and gain relevant experience.

It doesn’t hurt to ask either way, because product descriptions are often short and you might be able to get companies to give you a shot despite your lack of experience. Provide them with a writing sample––even just one description––so they can get a feel for your abilities. That can be more difficult to do with longer-form writing projects.

A benefit of this kind of freelance writing job is that clients rarely only need one or two product descriptions. There are often dozens, if not hundreds, of descriptions that need to be written, and product lineups are constantly changing, so there’s consistent work. That can prompt continuous written work for you, which isn’t very simple to secure when you’re just starting as a writer.

Creative Writing

Is fiction more your thing? You can get paid for your creative efforts as well, regardless of the fact that you’re a fresh-out-of-the-box new writer. Search for type-centered sites, online scholarly magazines, or sites specializing in flash fiction and submit a writing sample of your most fantastic story.

The best part about independent fiction composing is that your work will be judged more on its own creative merits as opposed to your level of experience. Of course, experience often leads to a higher level of quality in your work. Consider working with an editorial manager before submitting fiction.

The downside of freelance creative writing projects is that pay is often much lower than it is with nonfiction freelance writing gigs. But if writing fiction, poetry, or other creative works is your goal, there is no reason to wait around. If you’re concerned about the pay levels, consider submitting your fiction to online publications in addition to taking on more traditional freelance writing work.

If you love writing and spend the time perfecting your craft, then there is no reason why you shouldn’t make a living as a freelance writer. If you want to write, write often, and keep practicing. The most important thing you can do is diversify; master a variety of styles and build up a portfolio that showcases all of them, and you’ll have a key to unlocking plenty of writing-opportunity doors.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Are you willing to take that step today? Share with us in the comment box below!

4 Responses to Freelance Writing Jobs for Beginners: Breaking into the Industry

Product descriptions is how I started and got more involved in freelance writing business, although I don’t have much experience in writing per se. It really improved my English skills and I earned a fair amount of money too.